Noelle Nobody
by holdthecat
Summary: Noelle isn't anyone important, not even to her best friend. So when she spots something unusual and stumbles upon someone even more unusual, what will happen? Will she give in to her curiosity? The Doctor and an OC (Like that's totally never happened before). Occurs in the time between S6 and S7.
1. Chapter 1

Noelle glared up at the sky - it was completely cloudless, a brilliant shade of blue. It made her eyes water. It was hot. Too hot. It was March, for Christ's sake. And she was in Droylesden. Droylesden was always overcast and grey, even when the rest of the country was slapping on sun cream.

Surely Alex should have been here by now. She'd been sat on this bench -where they always used to meet- for about ten minutes, and the heat seemed to stretch the minutes into hours. Alex, Noelle's best friend, had changed a lot recently. She dyed her hair that weird purpley-red colour everyone seemed to be obsessed with and started talking to boys and going to parties. They went to different schools, so it was no surprise that she hung around with a different sort of people and had new friends, but lately Noelle felt like she was being left behind.

Noelle's phone dinged. This is probably Alex now, she thought, telling me she's going to be late. She opened the message.

'sorry bbe can't make it today xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Noelle felt betrayed. Was she not even worth an excuse now? And since when did Alex send kisses? She felt angry, then pathetic, then angry for feeling pathetic. She stood up and stuffed her phone back into her pocket, marching back the way she had come. Once she was past the supermarket, she had decided she didn't need Alex anymore. When she crossed the bridge, she made up her mind to ignore her. By the time she was almost home, she felt like crying.

And then she spotted it. A lizard. It was quite large, up to her knee, and it balanced on it's hind legs. It had a long tail that swayed as it walked, searching through the overspill of a bin. An actual lizard. She watched it for a while, trying to work out what to do. Had no-one else seen it? The street was empty, not a person in sight. She looked back down to where it had been. And just like that, it was gone. She looked up and down the street before catching a glimpse of a tail as it scurried down a ginnel.

She ran after it, wondering what she would do if she actually caught up. She had never seen a wild lizard before, not in England. Not outside an enclosure. What if it was carrying some foreign disease? What if it was someone's overly expensive pet? Should she catch it and call the police? The ginnel twisted and turned as it weaved between houses, and all the time she would just see a tail flick it's way around a corner. It was fast. She was always about four metres behind, despite her obvious height advantage.

The ginnel lead to a unkempt football pitch, and she soon lost the little lizard amongst the tall grass.

And then she heard it. 'Aha! Got you, you absolute beauty.' It was a man, holding up a net with the lizard tangled inside it. He was dressed kind of weird. Too formal, for one. Sure, she only had a view of the back half of his body, but braces? Seriously?

She watched for a moment or two before curiosity got the better of her and she decided to head over. 'Look at you.' The man crooned, poking his finger into the net. The lizard snapped at him, and he pulled his finger away just in time. 'Oi, none of that.'

'What is it?' Noelle said, when she was close enough.

The man looked at her for a second then back at the lizard. Then he did a double take. He hid the net behind his back. 'Nothing.'

'Doesn't look like nothing.' She tried to step around him, but he moved with her.

'Then you're looking wrong.' She tried again, stepping sideways, and he turned to face her. She tried to run around him, but he spun on the spot.

'Fine,' She said. 'I've already seen it anyway.'

'You have?'

'I have. It's a lizard.'

'No.'

'No?'

'It's not a lizard.'

'Then what is it?'

He was quiet for a second, then leaned forward. 'Can you keep a secret?'

Noelle frowned at the man. What was he, five? 'Tell me.'

'Pinkie promise?' He held out his little finger. She looked at the man's face, then down to his finger. He was strange, sure, but what was the harm in it? Besides, she really wanted to know. She wrapped her finger around his.

He pulled the net from behind his back.'Compsognathus Longipes.'

'A what what?'

'A small dinosaur.'

Noelle snorted. He was nuts, then. She should have known. Who wore bow ties these days, anyway?

'You don't believe me?'

'Yeah, not quite.'

'Well, that's probably for the best.' He patted her shoulder and started to walk away.

After a second of hesitation, she chased after him.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Well, if you don't believe me, I don't have to prove it, do I? And that saves me some trouble and keeps you out of danger. Two badgers, one stone.'

'I think it's a bird.'

'I told you, it's a dinosaur.'

'I meant - never mind. Danger?'

'Well, of course. Late Jurassic period, you've got your diplodocuses stumbling about. Could get squashed. A messy way to die, really. Most unfortunate.'

'You're mad.'

'Of course. But I'm not a liar.' The man stopped walking and Noelle bumped into him. 'Well... I'm not lying now anyway.' He carried on. Noelle watched him go, the net swung over his shoulder. He was obviously delusional. Very probably unbalanced. It would be mad in itself to follow him still.

She ran up to him again.

'So you don't believe me?'

'No.'

'And you're still following?'

'I'm intrigued. And I'd feel partially responsible if you hurt yourself.'

'And why would I do that?'

'Well, not intentionally. Maybe you could get squished by a diplodocus.' She smiled at him, and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled back. When he looked up again, his face lit up.

'There she is.' He said, beaming. 'My spaceship.'

She followed his gaze. He gestured to a blue box, stood on the road facing the field. 'That wasn't there before.' She said, mostly to herself.

'That's what you're questioning? I did just call it a spaceship.'

'Yeah, but that's crazy talk. I know that wasn't there before.'

The man turned and walked backwards for a few steps, wiggling his eyebrows. 'It moves through time and space. That's why it's called the Tardis.'

She frowned.

' T-A-R-D-I-S. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.'

She followed him across the empty road, looking up at the blue box. 'Well, it says it's a Police Box.'

'It's a disguise.'

'It's not a very good one. Stands out like a sore thumb.'

The man stroked the blue door affectionately. 'It's okay, sexy, she didn't mean it.'

Noelle took a step back. 'Well I should probably go.'

'You don't want to see if it's true then?' The man said, pulling a key out of his pocket.

Noelle watched, uncertain. 'I should probably go.' She repeated, still not moving. The man smiled at her, and put the key in the lock. To Noelle's utmost surprise, she heard a click, and the man pushed the door open. It actually worked. He had unlocked the door. So, did that make some of it true? No, of course not. It couldn't be true. Don't be stupid, she chastised herself.

With one last smile and eyebrow wiggle, he disappeared inside. Noelle stared. How on earth did he fit with that net on his shoulder? She looked at the door. Did she dare? Well, she had followed him this far. No point in going back now.

She pushed the door open and peeked inside.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor untangled the dinosaur from his net and pushed it into the large bird-cage he had found in one of the libraries. It was funny, whenever he used this bird-cage he was always catching something scaly with four legs. It hadn't been him using it last time though. Not with the hands he had now.

'Four things and a lizard,' He muttered to himself, remembering.

He heard the door creak open behind him. He turned around and saw the girl standing there, looking around with a frown on her face. She wandered further in, then stepped outside again. She reappeared in the doorway. 'Is going crazy infectious?'

He smiled to himself. He liked this bit.'Depends.'

'On?'

He fiddled with something on the console. 'If you're telepath, possibly.'

'And are you?'

'Insane or telepathic?'

'Either.'

'Both.'

The girl bit her lip, considering. She nodded. Her dark curls bobbed. 'Okay.'

'Okay?'

The girl shook her head. 'Not okay.'

'Okay then.' He clapped his hands together. 'So, on or off?'

'Sorry, what?'

He gestured to the console. 'Time machine. Space travel. To put it simply: would you like to see something cool?'

The girl stared, her mouth hanging open slightly. Then she returned to her frown. 'I have school tomorrow.'

'It's a time machine. It travels in time.' He hopped down from the platform.

'I have to get back before dinner.'

'As I said, it travels in time. That's what time machines do.'

'My parents don't know where I am.'

'Neither do mine.'

The girl nodded. Then nodded again. 'Okay.' A smile broke across her face.

'Okay?'

She positively beamed. 'Okay.'

The doctor held out his hand 'I'm the Doctor.'

'The Doctor?'

He lowered his hand. 'That's my name.'

'Doctor.' It wasn't a question, but she said it sceptically.

'Just the Doctor.'

'Okay, the Doctor.' The girl stuck out her hand. 'I'm Noelle.'

The Doctor shook her hand. 'Okay.'

She grinned. 'Okay.' She stopped grinning. 'You can read my thoughts.'

'Only when I can be bothered. Which I can't, for the majority of the time. Your thoughts are safe.'

'Okay.' Noelle nodded. 'Okay, so where are we going? Venus?'

'If you like. Not much there at the moment, though.'

'The moon?'

'Of course.' He hopped back up to the console, pushing buttons, flicking switches, pulling levers.

Noelle looked around when the sound started. 'Is it supposed to do that?'

'Yes.' The Doctor remembered what River said. About the brakes. 'Sort of.'

'That's reassuring.'

The noise stopped. The Doctor smiled over at her. 'Take a look outside.'

'Don't I need a spacesuit?'

'Only if you want one; the Tardis provides oxygen.' He saw the look on her face.'It's complicated.'

Noelle nodded. 'Okay. Okay. Okay.' She realised she was repeating herself and stopped. 'I say okay a lot.' She looked at the door, determined. 'Okay.' She marched over and pushed both doors wide open.

The view was unbelievable. The actual moon was pretty un-amazing, just grey and rocky, but the blue orb floating in the inky blackness left Noelle speechless. Well, almost. 'Can I stand on the moon?'

'If you want to.'

'But when someone else gets up here, won't they be like, 'Who the hell left these here and why were they wearing trainers?' Won't that be a problem?'

'A whole hospital disappeared off the face of the earth and landed on the moon once. I don't think it matters much anymore.'

'Wait, what?'

'It was the Judoon. A platoon of Judoon.'

'A platoon of Judoon on the moon?'

'Exactly.'

'Try saying that when you're drunk.' Noelle muttered to herself. She took a deep breath. 'Okay.' She stepped out. She took another step. And another. She ran a ring a round the Tardis. The Doctor appeared in the doorway, watching her. 'We're on the moon!'

The Doctor raised his eyebrows in reply.

'This is unreal. How is this real? This isn't real. Am I dreaming? I'm dreaming... I am dreaming, aren't I?'

'You're not dreaming.'

'That is exactly what you would say in a dream.'

'It's quite unlikely that we're both dreaming - well, I say that. It has happened before.'

'That's not possible... is it?'

'It's happened to me.'

'Do you always get caught up in trouble like that?'

'Not all the time. Well, actually - not the point.'

'What is the - Hey! Ow.' She rubbed her arm. 'What the hell was that?'

'Electric shock function,' He said, holding up his sonic screwdriver. 'Good for April fools. I love April fools. Had twelve in a row once. Also not the point. What was that for? It was to check if you were dreaming.'

'Did that work last time?'

'Ah, no. Not quite.'

Noelle glared at him. She punched his arm.

'Hey!'

'Just returning the favour.' She smiled sweetly. 'So we're probably not dreaming.'

'It's highly unlikely.'

'So what now then?' She looked at her feet.'... Are you going to take me back?'

The Doctor's forehead creased. 'Do you want to go back?'

Noelle grinned. 'Not yet.'

'Well then.' The Doctor smiled, rubbing his hands together. 'How about take a little trip back in time?'


	3. Chapter 3

Noelle watched intently this time as the Doctor fiddled with the console. It wasn't how she had imagined a time-machine to be, when she had ever put thought into the matter. There was no clear 'Enter Coordinates Here' labels or any sort of units marked on the dials and gauges. There was a lot of circular squiggles, however. They flashed on the monitor screens and were scrawled on post-it notes that were stuck in random places. Were they some sort of map? It was too complex to tell.

'What does that do?'

'Ah, don't touch that. It's important.'

'But what does it do?'

'It throws us into the middle of no-where if we're not careful.'

Noelle lifted her hands away from the console in a mock surrender, rolling her eyes. A whole ten seconds passed before she spoke again.

'What's that?'

'It's a Time Rotor.'

'What does that do?'

'It goes up and down and glows. Now please, I'm trying to concentrate.'

Noelle looked at her feet. The whirring stopped.

'It's connected to the lower engines. That there is the Energy Storage unit, and that next to it is the Conceptual Geometer relay. The Conceptual Geometer is for moving through time, the Spacial Geometer is for moving through space.'

Noelle looked back up at the central column. 'It goes up and down and glows.'

The Doctor smiled. 'Basically.' He pulled a lever and the whirring began again.

He turned away from the console then, leaning against it. 'So.' He said, crossing his long arms. 'What about you?'

Noelle was taken aback. 'What about me?'

'Well, who are you?'

Noelle shrugged. 'I'm nobody.'

'That would make you a first. I've never met a nobody before.'

'You know what I mean. I'm just Noelle.' She looked up at him. He had puppy eyes, but it felt like he was prising her open, purposely trying to melt her down. She folded her arms. 'I don't exactly have a spaceship.'

'We can't all be time-travelling aliens.'

Noelle blinked. 'You're an alien?'

'Yes. Gallifrey, Timelord, two hearts. Not the point. The point is-'

'Timelord? Is that what you call yourself?'

'It's a species. A very old one.' A dead one.

'So what, you're all guys? How does that... work?' She realised the way she had been pressing her fingers together may have been suggestive and dropped her hands to her sides.

'No, there are Timeladies too.'

The Tardis suddenly went quiet, the Time Rotor going still. The Doctor tipped his head back to look at the glass column.

'Are we here?'

The Doctor wiggled his eyebrows. 'Let's find out, shall we?'

He picked up the bird-cage and headed for the door. Noelle followed, struggling to keep up with his long legs and fast pace.

He waited for her at the door, pressed against it with his hand on the doorknob. Like he was preparing to burst through. 'Ready?'

He swung the door open.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a bit of an anticlimax really. Outside looked like the countryside - a surreal, perfect version of the countryside, with crystal clear lakes and a sun-dappled golden ground - but a countryside all the same.

Noelle peered through the doorway. She looked up at the Doctor, who was leaning over her to get a look himself.

'Is this the right place?'

The Doctor looked down at her. 'Pass me a rock.'

Confused, she picked up a pebble and passed it to him. He licked it. Noelle pulled at face at the ground.

'Well, this is definitely France.'

'You could tell that by licking a rock?'

'It had a French twang.'

Noelle peered back up at him, looking not a lot unlike a mischievous pixie. 'Hey, how do you know when you've reached Blackpool? The rock tastes like strawberry. Badum-tss.'

The Doctor scrunched up his eyes and headbutted the doorframe.

'Oh come on, it wasn't that -'

'Shh.' She was about to protest when she heard it.

If she had a glass of water, it would be rippling. If she had jelly on a spoon, it would be wobbling.

Noelle looked up at the Doctor. The Doctor looked down at Noelle. She leaned further out of the doorway just in time to see a large, khaki green bulk disappear into a dense forest.

'That,' she said, 'was a dinosaur.'

'That was an Apatosaurus - which means we are roughly in the right time period.'

'Roughly?'

'Well, can't exactly pick up a newspaper now, can we?'

'You don't have some built-in monitor for that? Checking the date?'

The Doctor scratched his head. 'Probably.'

'How can you not know?'

The Doctor just stared out at the scenery. Noelle thought he wasn't going answer, but after a pause he said, 'I sort of borrowed it. Prematurely. Without asking.'

'You stole it?'

'I was going take it back!' He frowned. '... Eventually.'

'Really?'

The Doctor smiled wanly, stroking the blue doorframe. 'No, probably not.' He remained gooey-eyed for a moment before clapping his hands together (causing Noelle to jump) and picking the bird-cage back up. He pushed both doors fully open. 'Alright then, here we go.' He squeezed passed her, lifting the cage over her head. He had walked about ten yards before he realised she wasn't following. He turned and saw her hovering in the door way, looking uncertain. 'Well come on, then!'

'What if we get squashed? Diplodocus and all that, remember? Messy. Unfortunate.'

'Never mind that! Where's your sense of adventure? Once in a life time chance, right here, waiting for you.' She looked at the small dinosaur. 'Can't we just let it go here?'

'How would you like it if I dropped you off in Cardiff?'

She pulled a face before peering back into the console room. 'Will the Tardis be safe if we just leave it here?'

'Don't worry, she's a clever ship. I turned the Hostile Action Displacement System on; it'll relocate itself if it's in immediate danger.'

Noelle weighed up her options. She looked at the Doctor, standing there with a crooked smile on his face. He knew she was going to come along. That irritated her for some reason, and a small part of her deep down inside told her to stay just to prove him wrong. 'Fine.' She shut the door behind her and walked over. The Doctor grinned even wider. Idiot, she thought. But before long she was smiling too, unable to stop.

'So where are we heading?'

'That is a good question.'

'You don't know? I thought you had a plan!'

'I do. We're looking for a herd of Compsognathus Longipes... es... Longipeses? Longipeses.'

'We're just going to walk around until we spot some? That's your plan?'

'Admittedly, it's not my best.'

'What if something huge and non-veggie spots us?'

'In that case, I would suggest we run.'

Noelle stared up at him. The Doctor beamed back down at her.

'You're insane. Like, actually properly.'

'I did warn you.'

'I didn't think-'

'Humans rarely do. You're all funny like that.'

'Hey, pot, kettle and black! What if the Tardis disappears and something's chasing us? What's the plan then - run faster?'

'That... That is a good point. And also - rude - my plans aren't that bad.'

'No?'

'No. 'Run faster,'. As if. Best thing to do in a situation like that? Hide.'

Noelle said nothing, exasperated. The Doctor grinned and let go of the cage for a second to squeeze her elbow. 'We'll be fine.'

Noelle just glared at him.

'Look, there's something over there now. See? Not such a bad plan after all.'

He was right; there were some small figures in the distance. However, the closer they got, the larger the creatures seemed.

'Doctor? I don't think those are... Compso... Compso-'

'Compsognathus Longipeses? Yes. No, I don't think they are.' He suddenly did a u-turn, steering Noelle along with him.

'What are we doing?'

'I don't about you, but I'm hoping they didn't see us.'

Despite herself, Noelle snorted. 'Doyouthinktheysaurus?'

The Doctor laughed, then stifled himself. He whipped his head around. 'Well, if they didn't before, they have now.'

Noelle smiled. 'You're kidding.' The Doctor said nothing. Noelle stopped smiling. 'You're not kidding.'

They both began to walk a little faster, then broke into a flat-out sprint. Noelle glanced over her shoulder to see the figures getting closer. Her eyes went wide. 'Where are we running to?'

'Into the trees! If we go to the Tardis and they catch up, it'll just disappear!'

They eventually reached the forest, but no luck; the trees were too tall and there no branches until about mid-way, which was about 30 feet higher up than Noelle would be if she was standing on the Doctor's shoulders. Noelle turned to the Doctor. 'What now?'

He didn't say anything.

'Doctor! What do we do now?'

The Doctor looked into the cage. 'I'm sorry.'

At first, she thought he was talking to the dinosaur. Then her blood went cold. 'Doctor?'

He turned to her. He put his hands on her shoulders. His face was in hers, his eyes level with her own. 'I am so sorry.'

'No.' Noelle mumbled. 'No. Think of something. Come on!'

They were getting closer.

The Doctor looked around, his forehead creased. She could see him calculating desperately.

'Come on, let's go.' She tried pulling at his sleeve. He wouldn't budge. 'Doctor!'

The Doctor snapped his fingers, suddenly back to normal. 'Noelle. I need you to run to the Tardis. Here-' He pressed the key into her hand. 'Now, once you've got in... No. Okay, new plan.' He took the key put her hand and put his sonic screwdriver there instead. 'This button- that one- press it. It sends out a signal. I'm going to run to the Tardis, and you're going to take the cage and run toward those dinosaurs. I'll pick you up before they reach you, okay?'

She stared. 'What?'

'No time to argue. Do this and we'll both get out alive. Okay?' No response. 'Okay?'

Noelle swallowed. 'Okay.' She picked up the cage. 'Okay.' She started running.

When she saw the herd of dinosaurs she immediately began to veer away out of instinct before remembering her job. She stopped. She put the cage down and lifted the screwdriver above her head. She could hear the buzz as it worked, emitting a signal. 'Come on Doctor.' She whispered. 'Come on!' She squeezed her eyes shut. She could hear them still. Their footsteps. Their snarls.

Their breath.


	5. Chapter 5

And then

- nothing.

She prised one eye open. She was surrounded by gold and green, bathed in a warm light.

'That was a close one, eh?'

Noelle marched over to the Doctor and punched his arm.

'Ow-'

'What the hell was all that about?'

The Doctor didn't reply.

'I could have died! I was this close -' She held her fingers up in his face, a centimetre apart. 'to being dinosaur food. This close!'

'I shouldn't have-'

'And where's that stupid cage?'

'Ah.' The Doctor pointed to a monitor screen. 'It might be out there still.'

Noelle squinted at the image. The bigger, non-compsognathus longipes were huddled together, only a piece of metal to be seen between them. 'Did they - did they kill it? The dinosaur, I mean.'

'Cage yes, dinosaur no.'

'Translation?'

'The dinosaur is in the Tardis. Somewhere. I'm not entirely sure where it got to. Hopefully not in the wardrobe.'

'So all that was for nothing?'

'Not for nothing. I like to think it was educational.'

'And the lesson learned is?'

'Don't take guests to the Jurassic period.'

Noelle shook her head. 'So what are we doing about the dinosaur? Wandering about the Tardis, still.'

'I'm sure it'll turn up eventually.'

'You're not going to look for it?'

'Well, it survived long enough when it snuck in the first time.'

'Is that really your main concern?'

'Well, I'd rather not have a dinosaur scuttling about, but I doubt I'd find it even if I looked. It's a very big ship, this. Great for hide and seek.'

'So we could have died and we've solved nothing.'

'Think of it as a 30-minute trial period.'

'You were testing me?'

'What? No.' He stepped close to her, leaning down until he was at her height.'You've seen that it's dangerous now. You know that anything could happen to you.'

'So what's the trial for?'

'An offer.'

'Which is?'

'All of time and space.'

Noelle was speechless. She thought of all that danger. The panic. The fear.

The euphoria of adventure. The wanderlust burning inside of her. The opportunities. The chance to be somebody.

She smiled up at the Doctor. 'Okay.'


End file.
